Gaston's beleaguered P&N Railway under new management

A freight transport company will aim to find success where two prior operators have failed on a short line railroad through Gaston County.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Rail Division announced this week that Progressive Rail has taken over operation of the 11.6-mile Piedmont and Northern Railway that runs between Gastonia and Mount Holly, with an additional 1.5-mile dead-end spur into downtown Belmont. More than $7 million in state and local tax dollars were spent to restore and then reopen the track in 2012.

The line connects with two major carriers, including CSX in Mount Holly and Norfolk Southern near downtown Gastonia.

Lakeville, Minnesota-based Progressive Rail, a short line rail operator established in 1996, was selected to operate the P&N after a competitive bid process. They will be the third operator to attempt to recruit new business to the line in the past five years, coming on the heels of Patriot Rail and Iowa Pacific.

Bill Bartosh, who helped to manage the P&N as an employee of both Patriot Rail and Iowa Pacific after it reopened, has now been hired by Progressive Rail to continue his work as director of operations locally. He said there is reason to believe this company will succeed where its predecessors did not.

“The line was restored for freight operations and that’s what we want to enhance and grow it on,” he said. “It’s always been feasible, but for whatever reason, the prior companies just did not pursue leads on business.

“We’re going to market the line for what it really is: a short line joined by two Class 1 carriers, where customer service is the priority.”

Progressive Rail has integrated transloading facilities and warehouses, and operates several short lines in Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and North Carolina. Allen Paul, acting director of the DOT’s Rail Division, said state leaders have faith in their potential.

“Progressive Rail is aggressively marketing this new line and we are optimistic about them drawing in new business to help continue connecting parts of North Carolina’s economy,” he said.

Chugging, but struggling

The entire P&N route from Gastonia to Charlotte was originally built and put into service in 1922. It is part of 137 miles of former freight line corridors the Rail Division has preserved in recent years.

The Gaston County track had become largely unused, overgrown with weeds and unsafe for use by 2007. That was when rising gas prices prompted Gaston County commissioners to ponder its potential use to boost economic development through new transportation and shipping ventures.

The state legislature bit on the idea, offering a hefty grant, and the DOT soon began an approximately $6.5 million restoration of the corridor. Gaston County contributed $500,000 toward the project.

Patriot Rail Corp., a private short-line holding company based in Jacksonville, Florida, received the initial bid to operate the railroad and began freight operations in 2012. But it terminated the lease in 2015 after being unable to secure any meaningful long-term business.

Iowa Pacific signed a two-year lease to operate it in 2015. The hope was that the firm would aggressively market the line and find new creative applications for it, both as a passenger train for tourism purposes, as well as industrial uses to boost economic development.

Iowa Pacific’s subsidiary, Premier Rail, offered the most visible use of the railway the past two years with “Train to Christmas Town” rides in November and December that catered to parents with small children. But while it was a novelty that attracted some interest among residents, it wasn’t ultimately profitable, and the company announced earlier this year it would not be renewing its lease when it expired in May.

Bartosh said it’s possible Progressive Rail would run special passenger trains of some sort down the road, but it won’t be a major part of their plan. The P&N has one major transloading station off Power Drive in Lowell, where various liquid or solid materials can be loaded or unloaded by conveyor, by truck and by top-loading pumps, he said.

“Our focus is on freight and customer service and developing the area,” said Bartosh.

A leased Progressive Rail locomotive is here and ready for use now, but several locomotive engines that are being rebuilt will be delivered and put into service here in October, he said.

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or on Twitter @GazetteMike.

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